White House: Rubio response could have been delivered by Romney

The White House on Wednesday piled on Marco Rubio, the Florida Senator (and Republican savior-designate) who was tapped to deliver the Republican response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday night.

White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters during Wednesday's press briefing aboard Air Force One that other than Rubio's support for immigration reform, the senator's address "could have been delivered by Gov. [Mitt] Romney."

Carney said Rubio's speech, in which he called for an end to tax raises and spending increases, and offered a personal testament to the Republican Party's connection to hard-working, middle-class Americans, seemed to read from the Romney playbook, which "the American people did not support."

Carney said he didn't know whether Obama watched Rubio's address, but noted the president was occupied on Capitol Hill during the time it aired live.